Punjab CM asks BSF to enhance vigil at borders to check smuggling of drugs, weapons

PTI, Jul 31, 2022, 3:33 PM IST

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday urged Border Security Force Director General Pankaj Kumar to enhance vigil at the borders of the state to check smuggling of drugs and weapons.

Kumar called on Mann at his official residence here, according to an official statement.

During the deliberations, Mann said Punjab being a border state faces numerous challenges in the wake of the smuggling of drugs and weapons from across the fence. He said this needs to be checked with a heavy hand as it poses a grave threat to the unity, integrity, security, and sovereignty of the country. Mann said Punjab is fighting the country’s war against drugs as not even a single ounce of the drug is produced in the state. But as the state is on the transit route of drug supply, it is battling hard to prevent the smuggling of narcotics into the country, said Mann.

Meticulous planning and flawless execution of strategy against drug smuggling by the BSF and the Punjab Police can act as a barrier to saving the country from the ”poison of drugs”. He said this is the need of the hour to break the backbone of the narco-gangster-terrorist nexus which is trying to flex its muscles by disturbing the hard-earned peace of the state. Mann assured fulsome support and cooperation to the BSF DG for this cause.

Underlining the need for equipping BSF and the state police with the latest weapons and gadgets to combat cross-border terrorism and smuggling more effectively, the CM said he had already flagged this issue with the Union government. He said both the Punjab Police and the BSF are working tirelessly to check cross-border smuggling of weapons and drugs, adding that strenuous efforts on the part of both the forces will bear the desired results. Mann also lauded the services rendered by the BSF for safeguarding the border of the country in general and the state in particular.